Young Women Against Sexual Violence

Young Women Against Sexual Violence (YWASV) is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual violence, change attitudes which lead
to sexual violence, empower women who have experienced sexual violence, and remove the stigma of being a survivor of sexual violence.

The founder Joey Lim and co-founder Micaela Rafel started this initiative after experiencing sexual violence and realising how prevalent and normalized it is throughout society.

YWASV is not just for us, but for every other young woman in our community.

70% of assaults are perpetrated by people we know (World Health Organization). The narrative of a stranger in an alleyway being the danger hides the fact that most sexual assaults are committed by our partners, our friends, our family members, people we are comfortable with, people who we think of as good and normal people, that we interact with in our every day lives and accept in our social circles.  YWASV helps to raise awareness about the prevalence and normalisation of sexual violence by hosting events across different venues in the public sphere. 

It is common for people who have been sexually assaulted to blame ourselves and feel shame, to feel as if what happened was our fault because of something that we did or didn't do. Sexual assault is not our fault. It doesn't matter where we were or what we did beforehand. No is no, silence is no, being still is no, fighting back is no, saying you're not sure is no, being unconscious is no, being scared is no, being too young is no. Anything other than an enthusiastic yes given free of fear, manipulation and coercion is no. YWASV helps women to recognise that what happened to us was not our fault and to release feelings of shame and self-blame through our Sister Connect meetups. These meetups facilitate  connection and open discussion in a safe space with other women who have similar lived experiences.

It is also common for people who have been sexually assaulted to not consider what happened to us as sexual assault in the present time, to question ourselves and be unsure if what happened to us "counts" as sexual assault, even though we know we feel violated, and to only recognise it for what it was months or years later. By sharing our stories with others, we hope to help each other process our own experiences.

YWASV creates a platform for our voices to be heard and our experiences to be seen.  

As two young students who have lived experience of sexual violence, we know how important this is project is to every young women in our community. We need your support to help us fund these events and facilitate our Sister Connects.